Web Coach Tip: 4 Quick & Easy Ways to Resurrect Your Website.
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Title: Web Coach Tip: 4 Quick & Easy Ways to Resurrect Your Website.
Word Count: 616
Author: Donna Payne
Email: dpayne38@earthlink.net
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Web Coach Tip: 4 Quick & Easy Ways to Resurrect Your Website.
Copyright 2006 Donna Payne
With the recent buzz about George Mason University making
it to the final 4, I remembered an old acquaintance who
attended GMU in the 80’s and of course “Googled” him just
to see where he landed in the scheme of life.
What I found was delightful and also shocking since I’ve
completely devoted myself to website marketing.
This acquaintance I’ll call “George” had successfully
started up a family business in the fast growing niche
industry for the affluent. Excellent! I thought, until I
went to his company’s website.
What I found there to be absolutely shocking! His website
was very “pretty” which is fine, BUT it was missing 3
critical and basic elements:
1. NO METHOD OF COLLECTING VISITORS EMAIL ADDRESSES. People
just don’t realize how important this is. Once you get an
email or physical address you can continue to market to
that person forever. It’s so much easier to take care of
the customers you do have than to constantly be farming for
new ones.
A colleague of mine boasts about carrying a million dollars
on his key chain by keeping his customer mailing list on a
flash drive. George doesn’t realize that his mailing list
can bring him unlimited value as a source for sales and
referrals.
PLUS he could snail mail a newsletter, tips, catalogs,
reminders, shopping services, sweepstakes, special
promotions, VIP customer shopping events… the list could go
on forever! (and archive these mailings and notices on his
website)
PS. What if George wanted to sell the family business? A
prospective buyer will want to know all about his inventory
and stock, but where’s the real value?
His client database of course! He could certainly pump up
the value if he had a mailing list of a few thousand happy,
cared for, and well taken care of ready to buy customers.
2. NO “AUTOMATION.” What I mean by this is there’s no
automatic way of keeping in contact with your subscriber
list. Follow up is sooooo important. Experts tell us it
takes an average of 7 contacts before customers buy.
For example: Martha wants to receive a free report about
your featured product. But first she must enter her email
and address, therefore; allowing you to capture her info.
Your system automatically sends her emails every few days
or weeks (you determine how many and how often) to keep in
touch by offering valuable info. This automated system
will also allow you to send broadcast emails to your
growing database of subscribers, and act as a shopping cart
for your website.
3. THE WEBSITE IS ALL ABOUT “THE COMPANY.” Yes, pictures of
sales people are nice – but what does your customer really
want when they visit your website? They want to learn as
much as possible about what you have to offer. Here’s an
exciting opportunity to EDUCATE YOUR CUSTOMER.
In George’s business, 5 out of 10 times his customer wants
to learn more about his product before buying. He could
shorten his sales cycle by posting every bit of information
possible on his website so folks can “research” before
coming to his store.
Not only would he educate: this positions him as a
trustworthy expert and increases customer loyalty.
4. CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS DOESN’T MATCH WEBSITE. Having an
aol email address displayed instead of your own dot.com is
just a pet peeve of mine. This indicates the web developer
didn’t take the time or care enough about your image as a
professional.
Just by making these three changes, George is sure to
increase his bottom line.
Now it’s your turn… What’s missing from your website?
About the Author:
Donna Payne is the Chief Web Goddess of The Web Coach.net,
and is known as the gal to call when you're feeling stuck
or overwhelmed by the internet. To spend more time with
Donna and experience Web Site Development, Marketing and
Coaching in the most SIMPLIFED way possible go to
thewebcoach.net
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